1,4-Butanediol (1,4-BDO) has been produced at a scale of approximately 1,000,000 tons or more all over the world, and used for various applications such as production of γ-butyrolactone (GBL), tetrahydrofuran (THF), pyrrolidone, N-methylpyrrolidone (NMP), etc.
1,4-Butanediol may be used as a monomer such as an acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) copolymer and polyurethane (PU), and may be converted into tetrahydrofuran, which may be used as a raw material for spandex fibers such as polytetramethylene ether glycol (PTMEG).
Meanwhile, Corynebacterium glutamicum is a gram-positive strain which has been used for production of amino acids such as glutamic acid, lysine, threonine, isoleucine, etc. C. glutamicum has advantages in that its growth conditions are easily adjusted, it grows fast, and it is not easily mutated due to the stability of its genetic structure. Also, C. glutamicum is not detrimental to the environment since it is a non-pathogenic strain and does not form spores. In particular, attention has been drawn to the use of C. glutamicum in the related industries since C. glutamicum may be cultured at a concentration 4 times higher than that of E. coli. 